And when I say SpaceTwit, I mean that in the nicest possible way. Because all you have to do to enter the contest is tweet about the new calendar to spread the word.

Designer Steve Cariddi created this large-format 2014 Year In Space Calendar, quite unlike any other ever published, to appeal to space enthusiasts of all ages, and the introduction was written by everyone's favorite Science Guy, Bill Nye!

This beautiful creation has his stamp of approval, and it's not difficult to see why. I got my hot little hands on it, and have been absorbed for hours.
The photography is stunning, and every square centimeter is packed with colorful collages, planets, astronauts, space crafts, and profiles of famous scientists. The calendar grids feature moon phases, sky-gazing guides, space exploration milestones throughout history and fun space facts.

TO ENTER THE TWEETSTORM

Circulate any of the tweets below, or create your own tweet with the calendar link, and CC: back to my account so I know to enter your Twit-handle in the drawing.

Win a FREE Year In Space 2014 Calendar! http://bit.ly/1b7jl7E Published by @exploreplanets the Planetary Society cc @pillownaut

EVERYONE who tweets will also get a re-tweet from me from somewhere in their recent stream, and an inclusion in my next #FF round for your Klouting pleasure! On Wednesday morning (December 11, 2013), we will choose a winner at random and notify everyone.

Click to see Calendar Pages!

And Get This: you get a special discount for being a Pillow Astronaut Reader & Tweeter! Of course, only one person can win the free prize, so when the rest of you purchase multiples for your kids for Christmas, and I know you will, check out the discount grid, alongside FREE U.S. shipping and lowered international shipping.

Check in the box for the Internet Discount, which ranges from 24% to 44%, depending on quantity ordered; then in the comment section, let them know Pillownaut sent you!

If you do not have a Twitter account, feel free to share this article to Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, or Tumblr! Then, leave me a comment here on this blog post to let me know! Anyone who shares is entered. :)

Monday, November 25, 2013

Star Trek Convention Time! After all the gushing I did over the last one, I shall spare everyone (I met William Shatner) the blow-by-blow descriptions, bypass the tons of videos (but I totally got a picture with William Shatner), and the lively, comedic stage presentations (Did I mention I met William Shatner?) over three days of Trek Awesomeness.

Also, I met William Shatner.

The highlight of the vendors and presenters this year was the splashy, spirited presence of the X Prize Foundation representatives, who were taking photographs of all the costumed Starfleet officers who had come toTrek the Halls of the San Francisco Hyatt.

They came to spread the glorious gospel of the X Prize, and I am their dedicated new missionary!

As ever, the goal of all the many X Prizes, past and present, is to MAKE THE IMPOSSIBLE... POSSIBLE. And the new life sciences challenge is perhaps one of the most ambitious I have seen in terms of technological advancement.

So says the challenge, "Imagine a portable, wireless device in the palm of your hand that monitors and diagnoses health conditions. That’s the technology envisioned by this competition, and it will allow unprecedented access to personal health metrics. The end result: Radical innovation in healthcare that will give individuals far greater choices in when, where, and how they receive care."

See the official website http://www.qualcommtricorderxprize.org/ to see the registered teams, review competition guidelines, follow the prize schedule, explore the FAQ, and download the myriad of comprehensive press kids from Qualcomm, X Prize Foundation, and the son of Gene Roddenberry.

Sign up for the TRICORDER X PRIZE newsletter to keep up with the teams, or hey -- just go to a Star Trek Convention to see their materials and hilariously fan-friendly ad campaigns.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

So, I was driving around New Jersey. Yes, people do that. And something utterly delightful happened.

My epic spacey road trip took me through 9 states in 22 days, seeking the Carl Sagan trail, the Space Shuttle, and three awesome scale solar systems. The entire trek was very well-planned in advance, and encompassed many scheduled stops at science museums and friends' homes in various cities. Sometimes, however, the most fun events are those that occur spontaneously!

Buzz Aldrin's Boyhood Home

Anyway, back to Jersey. Did you know there are eleven astronauts from New Jersey? Schirra, Buzz, Schweickart, Sullivan, Zamka, the Kelly twins -- every major NASA program through each era is represented by New Jersey, as all of these men and women have served in Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Space Shuttles, and the ISS.

Astonishingly, there is only one small plaque for a single astronaut in all of Jersey. But, not so astonishingly, it belongs to a moonwalker.

Click to embiggen and read the writing!

If you are ever in Montclair, definitely swing quietly and respectfully by 25 Princeton Place -- a truly lovely, leafy neighborhood just beside Anderson Park.

The home is no longer inhabited by the Aldrin family, but it is definitely inhabited. The current owners are tolerant of passers-by, but my friend Barbara and I made our visit swift, and hopefully unobtrusive, nonetheless. Thanks to her camera for this great photo of the commemorative plaque! And also thanks to the two men exercising who stopped to take our picture.

Now, here's where the fun begins. Just after this, Barbara and I went to the nearby "Main Moon Cafe" (seriously) for lunch, then parted ways so I could head to New York. But, I checked my Twitter feed, and saw a note from another New Jersey astronaut who seemed displeased I had left him off my touristy to-do list that day:

The Unexpected Tweetstorm

Garrett Reisman is, of course, a Space Shuttle veteran (Endeavour STS-123, Discovery STS-124, Atlantis STS-132), a survivor of a 95-day stay in orbit, a NEEMO aquanaut, and holds the distinction of MOST EPIC INTERVIEW ever seen on The Colbert Report, when he provided a live feed to Stephen Colbert from the International Space Station.

Reisman is now the Crew Development Program Manager at SpaceX, and I had the pleasure of breathing the air molecules beside his at Cape Canaveral-slash-Kennedy in summer 2011, where he explained the historic Dragon Capsule #3 to the media. (I called my Nana that night and told her I had a new favorite astronaut because he was my size, har har.)

Garrett Reisman's Boyhood Home

Ah, the whimsical ups and downs of the American road trip! Parsippany, New Jersey is also just as beautiful as can be -- particularly when the autuman foliage is in full electrical color.

You just can't plan this stuff -- it's awesome and funny and worthwhile because it just jumps into your path and dares you to take the adventure! So, again, if you're ever in NJ, swing quickly by 222 Lancaster Drive (please be polite when representing the almighty Spacetweeps, as it is also still inhabited) to see the Reisman residence.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

This year's theme is "Space Exploration: Past, Present, and Future", and once again, Florida's Broward College has planned awesome lectures, planetarium shows, children's activities, educator workshops, COSMOS episodes, telescope instruction, and star-gazing. The celebration includes a fundraiser dinner to honor what would have been Sagan's 79th birthday.

He taught at
Cornell and Harvard universities, and worked at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Other titles included technology
officer of the Icarus planetary research journal, Planetary Science Chair at the Astronomical Society, Astronomy Chairman at the Advancement of Science Association, and Co-Founder of the Planetary Society, the Earth's largest space-interest group.

Carl Sagan passed away in December 1996 at the age of 62, and was buried in New York (Lakeview Cemetery, Ithaca) right beside his parents.

An astronomer, philosopher, professor and NASA consultant, Carl Sagan won 30 public awards, published over 600 scientific articles and authored or co-authored 20 books. I’ll never weary of recommending Pale Blue Dot to anyone who will listen! The unmanned Mars Pathfinder spacecraft was renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station in 1997. Asteroid 2709 Sagan is also named in his honor.

Sagan was instrumental in the early Mariner missions to Venus,
determined landing sites on Mars for the Viking Lander probes, and also
assembled the first physical messages sent into space. He was
instrumental in establishing the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence(SETI),
urging the use of radio telescopes to detect signals from other
intelligent life. Along with Frank Drake, he also composed the Arecibo message, beamed once into space in 1974.

He's one of those people who makes you scratch your head and think, "What the heck have I been DOING with my time?!"

Carl had the
ability to make space "knowable" to audiences of all ages. He was known
for popularizing science in a way that inspired people to
understand both our insignificance in the larger universe, but also,
paradoxically, the absolutely precious nature of our enormously unlikely
existence.

Follow me on Twitter today for #TriviaThursday, all day today, which is all about Carl Sagan's life, works, activism, and scientific accomplisments! Speaking for space geeks everywhere... thanks a billion, Carl.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Bucket List Alert. So, yeah. I just finally saw all 50 states. Cool, right? (Don't let the blasé sarcasm fool you, I got all teary-eyed at the final border). I then got another bucket list item under my belt less than a week later!

THE MAN
Sciencenter, Ithaca

My awesome cousin, Professor Barrett, lives on the southern New York border, so I dropped in for his splendid (and spontaneously invented on that day) "Carl Sagan Tour" around Ithaca.

Of course, one mustn't miss The Sciencenter, an amazing, interactive museum geared toward children, where they may touch, explore, play and learn all manner of scientific concepts about anatomy, force, energy, frequency, atoms, gravity... and, for some reason, a skeleton on a skateboard.

Meteorite!

The best part for me was the Sagan Planet Walk, a scale model of the solar system that spans from the museum to the Ithaca
Commons, featuring our nearest yellow star, the planets (Pluto has been re-designated as a Dwarf Planet), and the Asteroid Belt -- complete with meteorite that may have actually come to Earth from the actual Asteroid Belt!

At the moment, construction at the Ithaca Commons has forced some of the stone markers to be moved, so the Sun and the inner, rocky planets are marked in their correct orbits with colorful murals. I hope to return sometime during summer months when it's warmer, and the old stansions are back in their proper places.

Teaching the new generation of Science Headbangers!

Not to be deterred, we had a lovely walk through town streets among two
parks, stopping along the way for pictures at the Gas Giants, the Ice
Giants, and finally, tiny Pluto -- about 1.6 kilometers from the Sun.
Interestingly, a stray cat helped us along the way. Good thing too,
because even with a map, we had trouble going from planet to planet
without being distracted by coffee shops. Coooold!!

Each stone marker has attractive plaques with information about each major item in the solar system, and round glass windows with a scale version of each planet. I realized I need bifocals when I couldn't see Pluto at all! If you prefer auditory stimulus to reading, you can also call 1-703-637-6237from anywhere, and hear none other than Bill Nye The Science Guynarrate the entire walk.

The skeleton gloves really make the whole picture

Every few hundred yards, one could also get their handy Planet Walk Passport stamped, confirming attendance at all the celestial bodies. What a great idea! I have to say, this is the glossiest, best prepared souvenir I've ever had the pleasure to receive from a Science Museum.

The color passport contains a page about each stop on the planetary tour, a map of the town, solar system information. I looked for the copyright and authors, so that I could write them a letter to say how awesome it is... only to find out that it was sponsored by NASA! The contents were written by Carl Sagan's widow, Ann Druyan.

Passport to the Solar System

Astonishingly, after we'd dragged my little cousin Sierra (aged 6) on the 3.2km walk around the solar system, she still had plenty of energy to play at the museum for another 2 hours, whereupon we mentioned to the Director of Guest Relations, Josh Giblin, that we had done other planet walks in America and Europe, including the one in Maine the Guinness Book of World Records names as the largest in the USA.

Each state in the USA was issued two saplings in America's bicentennial year. In addition to those planted just after the Apollo era, many people have re-seeded second generation trees with seed pods harvested from the full-grown specimens from the 1970s!

Of course, it helps if you live very near a Moon Tree. Greg "Rocket" Riley, a native of Franklin, Massachusetts, has the very good fortune to live near the Moon Tree in Holliston, MA. Their treasured tree is a flourishing American Sycamore (plantanus occidentalis), conveniently beside the police station -- so it doesn't suffer the "sign stealing" issue many other Moon Trees do!

Each autumn, Greg picks a few new seeds from around the tree... and has sometimes had police come out to ask what he's doing! Ah, just gathering sycamore droppings! I visited his home and garden a few towns over, where he plants the pods in various places around his front gardens, varying the amounts of sun and shade, to see what grows best where.

Altogether, he has more than a dozen tiny new trees of varying sizes all around his property. Most are still in pots, alongside other botanical experiments. How I envy people with that Green Thumb talent! He is truly ensuring that the Apollo Moon Tree legacy lives on into the next generation.

Rocket Riley with his tallest Moon Tree sapling

I asked Greg if I could write about his talented botanical activities on my blog, and also add his Moon Tree to the master list -- though, of course, for that, it needs to be planted in the ground. He promptly prepared a spot on his lawn, and carefully moved one of the potted saplings into freshly turned dirt.

So I was there for the birth of a new Moon Tree, and I'm certain Greg will take excellent care of it as it grows. Next year around this time, I put a reminder on my calendar to ask him for a new photograph, so we can see the progress of the new sycamore.

The newest Apollo Moon Tree!

Hail to Rocket Riley, keeper of the Moon Trees! Next time you pass through New England, be sure to visit his growing tree farm. To see the entire collection of photographs, click on any of the photos above, or click here to see the Pillownaut Picasa Moon Tree gallery.

If you know the location of any living trees or seeders, or where they were or are being planted, curators at the National Space Science Data Center would love to hear from you. Join the Waymarkers Moon Tree Group to help search for more trees, and email NASA if you find one!

Monday, October 21, 2013

There are hundreds of scale solar systems all over the world, and 30 in the USA. Most are designed to be hiked via nature trails, or perhaps bicycled, if they're on paved roads. The largest is in Aroostook County of northern Maine. At nearly 100-miles long, snaking through half a dozen towns, I figured a car would be handy.

The entire solar system is to-scale, both in distance and in the size of the celestial objects! Well, except for the Sun, but they tried. Inside Folsom Hall at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, a partial arc meant to represent our Yellow Star spans two floors!

The rocky terrestrial planets are fairly close, of course. One can walk easily to tiny Mercury by the roadside. Within view of this planet, Venus boasts a beautiful paint job! Each planet is placed on giant poles so that they are visible from the road.

The local visitor centers, and some of the local Inns, have guides for the planetary route. It seems fairly straightforward just to follow Route 1 South, but many of the orbs can be hard to spot while also concentrating on driving. It's probably easier to scout and to take pictures if space geeks do this in pairs.

The small roadside plazas with Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn also each include various moons of the those planets. Jupiter, another fantastic paint job, sports the most, with the depictions of the four Galilean Moons: Europa, Io, Ganymede and Callisto. Like the planets, they are all 3-D orbs created to-scale, in the scale distance to their planet.

The scale of the entire route is 1 mile : 1 Astronomical Unit (AU). The AU is based on the distance from Earth to the Sun, or 93,000,000 miles. Using this scale, Earth of course is precisely one mile out. I tracked each of the rest and created a precise, printable guide (MSWord) if you are unable to find one of the local pamphlets. The Visitor Center volunteer told me they run out of them all the time because this feature of their landscape is so popular!

I had a great experience at Planet Uranus, which is right in front of the Bridgewater Town Hall. Talk about small town hospitality! Two ladies came running out when they saw me trying to take a "selfie" (no easy feat, given the angles!) when I had no place to set the camera on a flat surface and set the timer. They wanted to know where I was visiting from, and marveled at the distance I had flown to see their solar system, confirming they had not yet seen anyone from San Francisco!

Out past the Gas Giants and the Ice Giants, the route boasts TWO distinct versions of Pluto -- one as a Dwarf Planet as of it's present position (as of 2006), and the older "planet" Pluto before it's designation changed. Beside the original Pluto inside the Houlton Visitor Center is its largest moon, Charon. That's at the 40 mile mark. You have to go another 50+ miles to reach the terminus, at Dwarf Planet Eris, in Topsfield, Maine!

Click on any of the photographs above to go to the Pillownaut Picasa Gallery, where all the Maine planets are shown, as well as photo collections of the last two solar system walks I completed in Belgium (2012) and California (2011).

Friday, October 11, 2013

It is the aurora as I write this, as seems fitting for astronaut Scott Carpenter, who died yesterday at the age of 88. With his passing, John Glenn becomes the very last member of NASA's original Mercury Seven. In May of 1962, Carpenter piloted the Mercury-Atlas 7, callsign "Aurora 7" -- and the latter title was painted on the capsule itself, which is now displayed in Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.

Scott Carpenter was the 6th human being in space, at a time when going into the vacuum was still largely unknown, and as yet, unknowable in many ways. As the fourth American in space for Project Mercury, and second American to orbit Earth, his skills as a pilot were put to the test in his 3 trips around our planet.

It's strange to think now, but at the time it was the literal truth: before his group, there was no such thing as an astronaut! They were inventing the term as they went along. Their first training protocols and missions would define the job itself!

I was honored beyond measure to meet Scott Carpenter for the first time
just this past year, and shake his hand on the anniversary of his Aurora 7 flight.
That same evening, I was quite nearly speechless to be seated at a
banquet table with him, whereupon I got to ask him some question about
Mars, about NASA's current vision (you probably don't want to know his
replies), and about the freaking awesome raspberry coconut puff dessert they served,
following the filet mignon!

The event was SpaceFestV at the Starr Pass resort in Tucson, AZ. This edited clip was cut from a larger video I made of many speakers.
The gentleman at the podium was reminiscing, and introduced Scott Carpenter to the audience, who all stood to applaud this amazing astronaut, aquanaut, test pilot, and Navy man. He had just turned 88 at the time, and it was heart-breaking to see him try to rise for his own ovation, but true to the hero that he was, he immediately applauded us in return.

I'm so sad to realize now that my first experience at any SpaceFest convention was also his last.

Farewell and RIP, astronaut Carpenter! You saw the Earth in a way that so many of us wish we could! I am so sorry we didn't get to Mars for you. I know that's what you wanted. We will keep trying.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Such exciting news this week for the NASA Spaceflight Simulations! The avalanche continues from last week's press buzz across multiple networks, and was also picked up by some infamous social media rogues, such as "The Onion" and also "I F**king Love Science!"

Daniel, a 27-year-old native of Saint Paul, Minnesota, has just completed his 70-day bedrest phase! Way to hang in there, Daniel! After simulating weightlessness for over 2 months, he just "returned" to Earth today, and will begin his rehabilitation phase!

Contrary to myth (and wild, anxious speculation on the comment section on many press articles), the studies are neither crippling nor so degrading to bone and muscle that additional medical bills are necessary. The NASA rehab protocols are thorough, and just like astronauts returning from orbit, exercise and nutrition helps everyone return to normal daily activities within a few weeks or months.

Candidate 1122 grows a beard in bed...

His Facebook status record actually starts with the screening phase of the NASA studies, including the hotel facilities candidates are treated to, and some details about the auditions.

The best part are his videos. I had no YouTube channel when I first joined, so I never uploaded any videos until FOX did a story on us. Daniel actually had some folks take movies of him while in various testing phases on the Flight Analogs Research Unit (FARU).

Curious about the meals you are served in space simulations? Ever wanted to know how to shave or cut your hair while lying down at a -6 degree tilt to simulate weightlessness? He documents the power cycle test, shock-enhanced isokinetics, and of course, the ever-famous Enhanced Zero-Gravity Locomotion (eZLS), colloquially referred to as the "Vertical Treadmill."

Daniel with the BBC film crew

In an exciting turn of events, the British Broadcasting Corporation just visited the NASA medical floors to film a documentary! Daniel is awaiting final word on when the program will be aired, both on the BBC in Europe, and on the Discovery Channel in America. We'll be keeping tabs and hoping for a Spring 2014 release date.

Daniel documents all his procedures on his Facebook page, including exertion trials, ultrasounds, MRIs, muscle biopsy (I didn't have to go through that one myself, though I remember two other men who did),and other medical details. No word on how much of this will actually be documented, or if the show is more geared toward the patient's point of view versus the scientist investigators. I'm hoping for a clean balance, so that the studies are presented objectively to the public!

Thumbs up! Going for a run!

I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of how Daniel and his fellow study participants passed the time with games, language lessons, movies, and various TV shows. Hey, another Game of Thrones devotee! All the fun times made the medical tests fade into the background, because the camaraderie on the ward makes for unique friendships.

Daniel rises from bed today after his 70-day weightlessness simulation! Follow him on Facebook to see how he re-adjusts to Earth gravity! Click on any of the photos above to go to his page.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Every now and then, the space studies explode in the press, breathing new life into the space flight simulations. It happened again this week, and have multiple Inbox Avalanches to show for it! Fresh off radio interviews in Dallas and New York, it's always gratifying to see the amazing scientists and doctors get some "rock star" attention for all their hard work in the Mars effort!

Going strong at 180,000 views and counting! The application server at NASA is probably bursting into flames right about now. According to metrics, we get as many hits from Texas alone now than we got from all 50 states 5 years ago.

Vlad and the leg-eating Bone Density Scan

Interestingly, just as the resurgence of excitement for NASA studies commenced, the European Space Agency began phase 3 of their bed rest study, in which many of the protocols are identical! I truly hope one day, there will be a large, comprehensive studies across many space agencies, with multiple nationalities -- as with the Mars500 project!

Over the past year, I've kept up with Vlad Atavin, one of the participants in the Toulouse study. Like me, he blogged about his experience at his space agency, describing phase one in French, phase two in English, and phase three in Russian! Very talented! And he includes a great photographic history of all his experiences. Is he an artist with that razor, or what?

The things we do for science!
(You'd do it too, if you had electrodes on you thrice weekly)

The entire program is very ambitious in its size and simultaneous scope:
Four pillownauts will spend 21 days in bed while engaging in recumbent weight-training and a vibrating exercise contraption. Another foursome will engage in the same, but add whey protein to their diets to see if there is any difference in muscle building. A final four will spend the same amount of time in bed, but lacking any of these attempts at "countermeasures". Throughout the program, they will undergo various tests and experiments.

As of this week, he is in head-down tilt mode for 21 days, and you can follow his adventures in detail, from his knitting (really, you must find ways to keep busy in there!) to the ESA menus, to medical tests. Sure brings back memories! Let's hope they get some press across Europe as well, because every single one of these studies gets us one step closer to Mars!

Ah, seems like just yesterday for me...

Next up? New protocols in 2014 for NASA, with at least two new studies in the works. Of course, the design phases and approvals going through committees can take some time, but hopefully there will be some new volunteers, new equipment, and new tests in the pipeline soon. When I have the written summaries, you'll see them here, first!